A Nightmare Rewritten
by A Gentle Hope
Summary: A disaster kills most of the players involved in the 1st Level Boss Fight and after that, everything changed. Sword Art Online seemed more determined than ever to make life difficult with newer and tougher challenges. However, heros will rise to fight the system and clear this nightmare, even if it has been rewritten to kill them.


**Author's Notes : The context of this story is that it begins during the 1st Level Boss Fight against Illfang. From there on, its a alternate universe which is the story. Please enjoy! This is my first time writing with an OC (and possibly more OCs) so please enjoy and review!  
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* * *

 **Chapter 0 : A Bad Dream  
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"Break through!"

The black-haired swordsman cried out to his fellow raid members as he led the charge towards the blockade of "Ruin Kobold Sentinels" that blocked the gates to exit and sanctuary away from the nightmare that was unfolding. The Kobold race was infamously known for their rat-like faces and hunched bodies and the sentinels before them were outfitted in plain metallic breastplates and full helmets, some wielding long poleaxes while others, sword and shield. Their formation right now was similar to that of a shield wall, with small yet imposing bucklers covering their vulnerable flesh at the front and supported by the long reach of the poleaxe wielders. Such strategy should be foreign to the AI of Sword Art Online which had been programmed like any other RPG to target the closest enemies without any other thought or free will. But now was not the time for the players trapped in the boss room to ponder on the newfound behavior of their adversaries. As the swordsman, Kirito approached the first Sentinel which impeded his path, his arm followed a well-practised motion, used several times over the course of the last month of being trapped in this game of death to activate a Sword Skill. His silvery sword radiated a bright blue light in response and sped up midair, swinging at the block of wood and cloth which the Sentinel held up.

"Switch!"

Recoiling from the heavy impact to its shield, the Sentinel had little time to react as its weak point, its throat, was exposed briefly from having its only protection knocked aside. Faster than it could possibly react, a pure white bolt of lightning shot through the gap in its defenses, piercing its weakness. Gagging, the Kobold had one brief look at its killer before it began fizzling, its form slowly bending and losing shape. Then, just like how everything in this world would meet its end, it exploded into a shower of greenish-white glass polygons which shattered on the ground, disappearing till there was nothing. Its shield brothers screeched their dismay and anger, both raising their swords to cut the impudent cloaked figure that stood before them. One sword was dodged away at the cost of her outfit which got caught by the wild swing, revealing her full appearance. Chestnut colored hair, a pretty, well defined face which shied away fearfully from the second sword which was mere millimeters from her face but thankfully for Asuna, he had come in the nick of time, parrying the weapon that would have sentenced her death away. But even then, the pair weren't out of the woods yet as three poleaxe-wielding Kobolds standing behind the shielded ones swung their weapons at the defenseless duo who were saved by a gigantic two-handed axe, decimating their would-be attackers.

"Its not over yet! Up and at them!"

A powerful and rich voice bellowed at them, and looking up under the shadow of the muscular, brown man, they both nodded thanks to their savior, Agil. Without wasting any further time with pleasantries, Agil hefted his big axe and rushed off to assist the other players in smashing through the Sentinels. The raid group was making good progress, Kirito noted as he surveyed the surroundings during his brief respite. The survivors were pushing through and on his end, the exit out of this mess was already open thanks to their previous skirmish. He and Asuna would only need to hold the doors open now to let everyone else.

"GET DOWN!"

Taking a quick look, Kirito needed no further encouragement as he hurriedly grabbed his confused partner, pulling them both to the ground forcefully. In his brief view, he had seen the boss of the First Level. It was of the Kobold race like its minions, Illfang the Kobold Lord except that it resembled more of a grossly oversized rat, towering over two metres tall. But what caught Kirito's attention then was the long, slender katana is was holding, the "Nodachi" which was glowing with a sinister bright blue light. It was a Sword Skill he had seen before, performed by katana wielding enemies on the higher levels of Aincrad, [Nami] or else translated as "Wave". Power would be stored in the sword for a single slash that expanded into a great blue crescent that increased in size the further it traveled, slicing everything in its path. An extremely overpowered skill at such low levels and so, it was good and very lucky of Kirito to have saved his partner as his hearing picked up the painful screams of a few players that were hit. The sounds of lives shattering like glass signaled very clearly to everyone present in this nightmare. More people have died.

"Don't stop! Keeping running! Please!"

It was the man who had called out the warning earlier. Dressed entirely in light blue with even the same colored hair to match, this was the leader of the boss raid, the self-styled "Knight" Diavel. Charismatic and a good fighter, he had attracted forty-three other players to join him in progressing through to their current battle. Thus, responsible for the lives of that many, it was now his duty to save as many as he could as he did his best to give hope to those who were falling to despair after seeing their comrades fall with a trembling voice that steadily lost its confidence and conviction. But it was not all for naught as those that were still alive stood up once more, sluggishly limping for the exit. Progressively overwhelmed by the sheer number of Sentinels, Kirito and Asuna slowly fell back towards the gates and the gap they had made was slowly closed up by a renewed squad of shielded Sentinels.

"Is that everyone? Close the doors!"

Standing beside the door, Kirito acted on Diavel's command, going to pull on side of the door while Asuna pulled the other. The Sentinels realised that their prey were about to escape and ambled towards the door, screeching noisily and waving their weapons but they were too late as the huge iron gates closed shut. Those outside were finally safe from the horrors of the boss room and they fell limp on the cold hard ground, depleted of strength and hope.

"Save me!"

From the other side, a desperate voice cried out. A player was still trapped, encircled by Kobolds inside, left behind by his party. He smacked the iron doors with his fists, trying to get the attention of those outside to rescue him. The tired survivors outside tried to regain their footing after having fallen but first to get up was Diavel who rushed partway to the doors before he was stopped by a muscular brown arm that pulled him back into a bearhug to prevent Diavel from moving.

"It's too late! You'll kill all of us if you open that!"

"But ... But! There's someone still in there! I can't let anymore die for my mistake!"

Yet despite what he said, Diavel knew the Agil was right. Soft pleas were abruptly drowned by illegible screams, extended over such a long period as if the game was taunting them on their mistake of challenging it. After what seemed like an eternity, there was only a strained silence.

"And so ends the players' first attempt at challenging the system. While it was a devastating failure, there are many lessons to be learnt."

An empty monotonous voice spoke to them but with barely any strength and fight left in them, the group weakly turned their heads to the new figure entering their view. It was familiar, wearing a dark red cloak, so thick that it obscured the face to make it seem like there was nothing there. The lack of limbs added on to the ghostly effect but everyone knew that this was no ghost. It was simple to also guess who was the human behind this avatar.

"Kayaba Akihiko ... What do you want?"

Kirito spoke up, hate and defeat mixed into his voice as he asked. The avatar seemed to laugh, raising one of its sleeves to cover where its mouth would be briefly.

"Only checking up on progress. Its terrible really since the players all still think that this is a game."

"What ... the actual hell did you say shitbag?!"

A poleaxe swiped at the cloak but as it slammed into the cloth, it was bounced right back as if it had hit rubber, knocking the furious attacker to the ground. Scrambling back up, his weapon still in his hands, he cried out with tears flowing freely from his eyes.

"People died in there and you dare say we think this is all a game?! Kayaba?!"

Kiabaou, never one to keep calm and instead, rely on brute force resumed his assault only to have it deflected the same way. Kayaba Akihiko paid this action as much attention as he would have to an insect beneath his feet.

"No matter, while some have died today, it will all change soon. Rest assured, you'll recover quickly and be fighting again soon enough. Sleep well. You'll be forgetting all soon."

Finishing off his address at that, Kayaba Akihiko vanished just as quickly as he had appeared. Throwing his weapon onto the ground, Kiabaou fell onto all fours, exhausted, weakly punching the ground, cursing his own weakness. No one came to console him for everyone felt the immense weight of responsibility and loss for everything that has transpired. Diavel had the greatest burden, being the leader that promised to bring victory but instead, he now only sees seven other players that had lived through ordeal. Forty-four entered, eight left with nothing to show for it.

It all started when Illfang drew its trump card a full health bar too early and because the "Nodachi" was a weapon they were not prepared for, those closest to the boss took alot of damage. These players backed off while another group took over their jobs of holding the boss as they recovered with potions. Health potions in Sword Art Online worked terribly, for besides its extremely questionable taste, healing was not instantaneous and worked excruciatingly slowly. Hence, the constant rotating cycle between fighting and healing should have ensured that despite Illfang's sudden change, it should have gone well. But there was more. The Sentinels that were previously only mindlessly fighting those in front of them targeted the injured who were trying to heal. They pushed past the squad of players that were supposed to block their path, ignoring their losses for such a reckless move but succeeding to surprise and kill several who were caught unaware. Between Illfang's early power-up and the over-aggressive Ruin Kobold Sentinels, they fell back.

Maybe it was fatigue or maybe just a deep, dark, black hole of despair that ebbed away at his consciousness. The black swordsman gazed aimlessly at ceiling which grew blurry, the shapes distorting in his vision. Groggily, like a drunk, he turned to look at his companions, all of which he could see was experiencing the same phenomenon as him, some slumping against the walls, their heads drooping down, others already face down on the hard earth, unmoving.

Maybe ... this was all a nightmare. Like a bad dream, none of this would have ever happened.

Kirito thought as his body and senses shut down

* * *

"Where am ... I?"

Kirito asked himself, staring at the wooden ceiling beams of a room. Blinking rapidly to clear his drowsiness, he sat up from the bed he had been sleeping on, glancing out of the nearby window to see the afternoon sun setting, its dazzling rays illuminating the town which he could see outside.

"Oh? You're awake."

A familiar girl's voice and he turned his head to look at her. But, while he had the strong feeling that he knew her, he somehow couldn't find any confirmation or even a name in his memories. In fact, it felt like there was a huge blank in his mind but for now, Kirito assumed that it was just his brain slowly waking up after his sleep.

"I'm alright ... err ... who are you?"

"Didn't you call out my name back then? I still don't know how you found out but its Asuna."

"Ah ... Asuna, sorry."

When her name left his throat, he felt discomfort. Somehow, he knew that while that was indeed her name, something else was off. It could be the voice but it could also be her appearance. The bronze armor, dark red tunic and rapier clipped to her belt seemed to spark a memory but it didn't seem to fit the cute childish face, framed by short black hair and deep grey eyes.

"You're ... Asuna right?"

"What kind of question is that? You're probably still asleep so get up. You'll feel better with some food."

As she mentioned that, he did feel his stomach rumble, demanding for food so he followed Asuna out of the room. As he entered the dimly lit corridor, he could hear buzz and noise from the floor below him and as he approached the stairs, it confirmed his suspicions that he was in an Inn. But there was something else that caught his eye that made him stop at the top of the steps.

"Asuna ... you don't happen to have sisters right?"

"Are you okay? Need a little punch to wake up?"

Despite Asuna sounding genuinely angry, his attention was entrapped by the scene before him. Around the inn, at just about every table, standing up, walking about, was a copy of Asuna. Everywhere he could see, he could only see girls with the same face, black hair and even the same color of eyes. The only differences happened to be their clothes.

"Oi Kirito, you alright?"

It was Agil at the bottom of the steps and thankfully for Kirito, he looked as normal as he could possibly be with his brown-skin and rippling muscles. Heaving a sigh of relief, he waved to Agil and approached him, going to pull him away from the crowd of the inn.

"Just asking ... does everyone look ... the same?"

"What are you saying? You dreaming?"

Even that sounded like reality now. Could this all be some extended dream or nightmare he was hallucinating.

"Oi Kirito, watch the front!"

Agil called out, pulling Kirito to the side as a player almost walked straight into Kirito as his view was obstructed by the heavy trays laden with food that he was carrying. An Asuna copy poked her head out from behind the feast

"Ah sorry there!"

"Onii-chan, you should be more careful!"

Darkness threatened to swallow his consciousness out of nowhere. The words, "Onii-chan" repeated endlessly in his head like a broken record running rampant, demanding that he dig through the depths of his memories to find the connection with these words. But there was nothing, only the same huge blank which he had discovered earlier when talking to the first Asuna. There was something important he was forgetting. Something so important, that he couldn't explain the tears that flowed freely down his cheek.

* * *

The world was shaking. Not an earthquake but just a light constant push on her back that made her head flop sideways on the soft feathery pillow she laid on.

"Five more minutes ... UWAA!"

She called out sleepily and while the shaking did stop, giving her peace momentarily, her sides were tickled mercilessly by wiggling fingers and she sat up from the bed.

"Waaa Aiko, you didn't have to do that!"

Her attacker crossed her arms, pouting and shaking her head. Scratching her head awkwardly as she understood her mistake, Yuuki amended her statement.

"Sorry, Ran. But you still didn't have to tickle me so hard!"

Her twin sister only shrugged, gleefully smiling at Yuuki before pointing at the doorway of their little room. A large man, with a sizable stomach and dirty leather tunic and pants looked the part of the innkeeper as he stamped his foot impatiently, waiting for the sisters to finish their little charade. Yuuki scrambles off the bed and approaches him, straightening the disheveled shirt dress that she wore.

"Yes?"

"Go to the market and get everything on the list."

Leaving a basket in Yuuki's hands, the innkeeper left for his work downstairs. Taking a look at the list, she sees that it wasn't extremely long so it would be a fast job meaning that they had more time to explore the outskirts once they were done. Waving to Ran, she goes to grab her sword which was left beside the door and heads down and out of the inn with her twin sister following along.

"Come on! We finish early then we can go outside!"

Yuuki exclaimed excitedly to her sister as she went on ahead, disappearing into the early morning crowd of the Town of Beginnings. Ran did her best to catch up, running after her active little sister but in her haste, she bumps into a cloaked stranger and they both fall onto their backs.

"Sorry."

Was what Ran said in her mind but the words never left her mouth. Not because she didn't want to but because she couldn't so she could only stand up and face the stranger who had also stood up, embarrassed by her mistake.

"Ahhhh! Sorry Ran! Sorry Onee-chan, my sister can't speak so we're both sorry!"

Yuuki returned, pulling Ran through the crowd, disappearing from sight of the stranger. Holding its hand out, the cloaked stranger grimaced, looking at its own hand, examining its own thin slender fingers belonging to that of a girl. A stray strand of long, black hair falls onto the open palm, as if making fun of it.

"I'm not ... a girl."

Listening to its own voice betraying itself, the cloaked figure glances at bright blue sky with equally beautiful aqua-colored eyes.

Its strange.


End file.
